Beyond Just Mom

She’s in there somewhere.
It happens every night.  Somehow, she shuffles around in her sleep, rolling into a little ball and piling the puffy down cloud on top of her into a mountain of coziness.  She’s deep underneath in her warm sweet slumber, and it’s my job to coax her out to greet the morning.
It’s my [...]

“Mom, I just can’t stand to be in the same room with them anymore,”  she said, with tears welling up in her eyes.  “No one understands how bad they make me feel.” 
I felt the puddles well up in mine too.  The constant banter of put-downs slung between siblings over the long holiday was taking its toll.  My [...]

While you’re reading everyone’s profound, thoughtful, New Year resolutions, I thought I’d just let you welcome our newest members of the family:
and
Of course I would never invite a couple of rodents, much less rats, into our home, but Santa delivered them so what could I do?
I think they’re actually pretty cute.  They’re learning quickly to [...]

I’ve never felt so hip at a second grade event.
We’ve been hearing about Mr. T’s poetry night for weeks.  Mr. T is KN’s cool student teacher:  a gentle giant with big hair, big hands, and a big heart for kids.  We’d received at least three kid-scrawled invitations:  a command performance for the family, and I have [...]

On October 17, 1989, my world shifted.  Literally.  
I was peacefully studying when my Diet Coke spilled, the furniture swayed, a dresser toppled over and I stumbled to the doorway, riding the door jamb like a galloping horse.  My roommate held on for dear life on the fire escape of our rickety old ex-fraternity house.   When it finally [...]

Sounds impossible, doesn’t it?   I witnessed a miracle yesterday. 

My 7th grader’s band program toured three local elementary schools yesterday:  an all day affair of orchestrated walking, music making, bus riding, and–sandwiched in the middle–a little pizza and bowling.   I was assigned “lunch coordinator” of the one hour pizza AND bowling break between concerts. 
That’s right:  one [...]

Once in awhile, when I’m escaping the world and watching TV drama, I’m struck by little snippets like this clip from a recent Grey’s Anatomy/Private Practice episode (if you’re reading this via email or feed reader, you need to click on the post title to see the video.  Go ahead.  We’ll wait for you.):

I won’t get [...]

He was beaming.
Seriously– tickled pink. My 13-year old son doesn’t “beam” very often. Can’t remember seeing this particular look on his face, actually.
“Mom! I learned the mambo and the samba tonight!” he blurted and proceeded to show me how it’s done. 
This is highly unusual.
“Who are you and what have you done with my quiet, self-conscious [...]

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It still gives me goosebumps. 
Just one more story about our Kona coast vacation:  In the mornings and evenings, we relaxed on our lanai (can’t get enough of that word–much more exotic than “deck”) and searched the horizon for spinner dolphins and humpback whales, as advertised.  It seems the dolphins were on holiday that week, but we [...]